Sure Global Tech Co. (TADAWUL:9550) stock is about to trade ex-dividend in three days. The ex-dividend date is commonly two business days before the record date, which is the cut-off date for shareholders to be present on the company's books to be eligible for a dividend payment. The ex-dividend date is of consequence because whenever a stock is bought or sold, the trade can take two business days or more to settle. This means that investors who purchase Sure Global Tech's shares on or after the 18th of June will not receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 8th of July.

The company's next dividend payment will be ر.س1.50 per share, on the back of last year when the company paid a total of ر.س1.50 to shareholders. Based on the last year's worth of payments, Sure Global Tech has a trailing yield of 1.8% on the current stock price of ر.س81.10. We love seeing companies pay a dividend, but it's also important to be sure that laying the golden eggs isn't going to kill our golden goose! We need to see whether the dividend is covered by earnings and if it's growing.

If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Fortunately Sure Global Tech's payout ratio is modest, at just 37% of profit. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Sure Global Tech generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. It distributed 45% of its free cash flow as dividends, a comfortable payout level for most companies.

It's encouraging to see that the dividend is covered by both profit and cash flow. This generally suggests the dividend is sustainable, as long as earnings don't drop precipitously.

Click here to see how much of its profit Sure Global Tech paid out over the last 12 months.

Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?

Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. For this reason, we're glad to see Sure Global Tech's earnings per share have risen 20% per annum over the last five years. The company has managed to grow earnings at a rapid rate, while reinvesting most of the profits within the business. This will make it easier to fund future growth efforts and we think this is an attractive combination - plus the dividend can always be increased later.

The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. In the last two years, Sure Global Tech has lifted its dividend by approximately 6.1% a year on average. We're glad to see dividends rising alongside earnings over a number of years, which may be a sign the company intends to share the growth with shareholders.

The Bottom Line

From a dividend perspective, should investors buy or avoid Sure Global Tech? We love that Sure Global Tech is growing earnings per share while simultaneously paying out a low percentage of both its earnings and cash flow. These characteristics suggest the company is reinvesting in growing its business, while the conservative payout ratio also implies a reduced risk of the dividend being cut in the future. Overall we think this is an attractive combination and worthy of further research.

Want to learn more about Sure Global Tech? Here's a visualisation of its historical rate of revenue and earnings growth.

If you're in the market for strong dividend payers, we recommend checking our selection of top dividend stocks.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.